Vista? What Would You do.....

[Ed O'Brien]

.......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14), PaintShop Pro and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others. To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

I would be very grateful for any comments that will help me make up my mind.

TIA

Ed

 

[Tiberius]

If its new a and very powerful PC get vista and suffer the pains of making
things work...

If you dont have time to fiddle around with problems, and you are not a
geek,
get XP, "it just works" (tm)

 

[Frank]

......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14), PaintShop Pro and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others. To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

I would be very grateful for any comments that will help me make up my mind.

TIA

Ed

I'm running OmnipagePro 14 & 15 on Vista with no problems. PaintShop Pro
will also run just fine and I'm pretty sure Corel Gallery will run. You
may have to run it in compatibility mode but I'm not sure. I have Corel
Draw 7 running normally (not compatibility mode) on Vista Ultimate.
Frank

 

[John Hanley]

......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14), PaintShop Pro and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others. To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

I would be very grateful for any comments that will help me make up my
mind.

TIA

Ed

I recently needed a new computer and have bought one with Vista and no
problems whatsoever. I did make sure I bought a machine with adequate
horsepower (like 2GB RAM which is cheap, and a Core2 Duo processor). My old
computer had lasted me for five years, and my thought was to set myself up
for another five years so I chose accordingly. Vista is really great, I
would not now go back to XP. A pleasant surprise with my new HP machine is
how quiet it is compared to my old one. I have also elected to go with
Microsoft Office 2007 Home & Student (for an added $150) for my five year
rule and I really like the 2007 Office. For my (rather simple) OCR tasks, I
use the Microsoft Office Document Imaging feature of Office; it works very
well.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Does your old computer do what you need it to do?
If so, then why purchase a new computer?

If not, verify with other users and the manufacturers web sites Vista
compatibility of all your essential hardware and software.
While the Vista Upgrade Advisor has value, is is an advisor and no
more.
You need to research your essential hardware and software yourself.

Also see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pr...advisor.mspx?wt_svl=10008VHa1&mg_id=10008VHb1
And
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

 

[john]

......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14), PaintShop Pro and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others. To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

I would be very grateful for any comments that will help me make up my
mind.

TIA

Ed

according to Microsoft's "Certified for Windows Vista" list
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305):

- Omnipage 15 will work, but not 14
- only Corel Paint Shop Pro X & Paint Shop Pro Photo XI are listed
- Corel Gallery isn't listed at all

and fwiw, just because an application -is- listed does not guarantee it will
work either, it just means the vendor paid a fee to MS to have their app
listed.

if these apps you listed are important to you, stick with XP...

 

[Dave]

I suspect you might have trouble with your printer and/or scanner. You
might check the hardware compatibility list...
http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/

and remember.. Vista Home Basic & Premium does not include Fax & Scan.

 

[Ed O'Brien]

Thanks everyone for the input.

My old machine is about to give up -over five years old - and the hard-drive
has twice frozen on me.

The new one does have the essentials - big in everything - and it looks like
I may dive in with Vista. I can do the compatibility research afterwards as
long as the most used apps perform okay.

Thanks again to all...

Ed

 

[Richard Urban]

Upgrade when you have a need to upgrade. Many, including myself, upgrade
just because it is there.

I have finally, after 4 months, gotten my computer to where I was when I was
using Windows XP. Some of my older programs just worked. Some have to be run
in compatibility mode. Some have to be run in administrator mode. Some just
wouldn't run at all and I either found substitutes, or just abandoned them.

Same goes for hardware. It took 3 months to get my Canon flat bed scanner to
function under Vista.

I am now content.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Doug]

With Vista Home Premium I'm running both MS Office 2007 Home and Student
Edition and MS Office 2000 (for added features not in Office 2007) and not
only do they both work, but they live together harmoniously - a pleasant
surprise. Doug

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Ed;
If the drive is freezing, catastrophic failure may be imminent.
Go to the website of the hard drive manufacturer and download their
drive diagnostics.
Be sure to regularly back-up all important data.

Assuming the drive is OK and the computer will last, you can run the
new and old computer side by side until you are confident the new will
meet your needs.

 

[Nina DiBoy]

......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14), PaintShop Pro and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others. To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

I would be very grateful for any comments that will help me make up my mind.

TIA

Ed

Hi Ed.

There are OEMs that still sell XP machines and IMHO, you would be much
better off with one of those! Since you are considering looking at
something new (Vista), why limit yourself? You should give a look at
PCLinuxOS 2007, Fedora Core 7, or Ubuntu! You can google any of them
and download an ISO which after burned to a CD, you can run as a live
CD. Boot off of it and run linux on your Vista/XP machine without
touching your installed OS. So give it a thought, there are alot more
options out there than windows.

That aside, when I was running Vista, I was able to get all of my stuff
to work on it eventually (except I never tested games or email). There
were alot of problems and kinks I had to hammer out along the way. It
was not an experience I would recommend to anyone. Whatever your final
choice, good luck.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"Spoken like a true NixTurd (oops, NixTard)."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot

 

[...winston]

Ed,
You can not make that *****assumption******.
Backup data, assess your software needs, investigate software availability and compatibility in Vista, then decide which o/s is right for you.

I can do the compatibility research afterwards *******as long as the most used apps perform okay******

 

[Charles W Davis]

Hi Ed.

There are OEMs that still sell XP machines and IMHO, you would be much
better off with one of those! Since you are considering looking at
something new (Vista), why limit yourself? You should give a look at
PCLinuxOS 2007, Fedora Core 7, or Ubuntu! You can google any of them and
download an ISO which after burned to a CD, you can run as a live CD.
Boot off of it and run linux on your Vista/XP machine without touching
your installed OS. So give it a thought, there are alot more options out
there than windows.

That aside, when I was running Vista, I was able to get all of my stuff to
work on it eventually (except I never tested games or email). There were
alot of problems and kinks I had to hammer out along the way. It was not
an experience I would recommend to anyone. Whatever your final choice,
good luck.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"Spoken like a true NixTurd (oops, NixTard)."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot

Buy the Vista machine. Certainly some of your hardware may need some new
drivers. Some manufacturers may not provide new drivers for older gear that
only sold a few hundred thousand. Six months from now, you will be far ahead
of the game... Even if you would buy an XP machine, there is still several
hours getting it set up the way you want it. Might as well spend that time
on the Vista machine.

 

[Nina DiBoy]

Upgrade when you have a need to upgrade. Many, including myself, upgrade
just because it is there.

I have finally, after 4 months, gotten my computer to where I was when I
was using Windows XP. Some of my older programs just worked. Some have
to be run in compatibility mode. Some have to be run in administrator
mode. Some just wouldn't run at all and I either found substitutes, or
just abandoned them.

Hi Dick.

Notably, but not surprising in your post here, you mention that you
found substitutes for some of your old applications that would not run
in vista. So you would do this for the new flavor of windows out there,
but not linux (it appears this way from some of your past posts)? Mind
you I'm not criticizing your seeming bias to windows, just pointing it
out. I fully admit that likewise I am biased towards linux.

Same goes for hardware. It took 3 months to get my Canon flat bed
scanner to function under Vista.

I am now content.

Glad to hear it.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

Most recent idiotic quote added to KICK (Klassic Idiotic Caption Kooks):
"Spoken like a true NixTurd (oops, NixTard)."

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot

 

[Frank]

DELL is now selling computers with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed. $100
cheaper to start with and the software you would need would be included.

Only $50 cheaper here. But why not pay the $50 and get a real OS (Vista)
then dl the free toy os.
Makes a lot more sense doesn't it?
frank

 

[Richard Urban]

Initial cost = $100 less.

Cost of programs you may have to abandon because they will not run on Linux
= PRICELESS.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

......if you had the chance to do it again?

I am in the throws of buying a new PC. I am reluctant to go for Vista,
having heard so many bad reports (just a few good comments). Particularly
with regard to one's current software becoming incompatible.

Whenever *any* new operating system comes, most of what you hear are
bad reports. The people with problems are those that are most vocal,
because they come to places like these newsgroups looking for help
with their problems. As someone once said, "hang around a transmission
shop and you will think that all cars have transmission problems."

My personal experience with Vista has been very favorable, as is that
of most other Vista users I know. Yes, I would do it again.

I run apps such OCR (Omnipage 14),

A run a several-year-old copy of OmniPage SE here. It runs fine,

PaintShop Pro

Paintshop Pro 8 runs just fine.

and a very old Corel
Gallery among many others.

Sorry, no experience with that.

To have to upgrade all of them would add pretty
substantially to the cost.

In fact, every one of the applications I ran under XP also runs under
Vista without a problem. The only issues have been with a few
utilities.

 

[DanS]

Hi Dick.

Notably, but not surprising in your post here, you mention that you
found substitutes for some of your old applications that would not run
in vista. So you would do this for the new flavor of windows out
there, but not linux (it appears this way from some of your past
posts)? Mind you I'm not criticizing your seeming bias to windows,
just pointing it out. I fully admit that likewise I am biased towards
linux.

Good catch. I didn't see that.

 

[Frank]

ray wrote:

....and most programs have Linux equivalents which are every bit as good.

That is simply not true and I think you know it to be not true.
Frank